Steve Lavin to St. John's is surreal [Newsday]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-hoops-scoops-1.1620561/steve-lavin-to-st-john-s-is-surreal-1.1834897

4:50 AM By Greg Logan

If Steve Lavin gets the St. John's job, as reported by the New York Post,  based on his ESPN commentary, then that is a commentary on how unbelievably poorly prepared Red Storm athletic director Chris Monasch was when he fired Norm Roberts.

I have been a professional sports writer for 37 years now, and I can't recall when a job search for a major position has been as poorly managed as this one. It speaks to the reasons for the decline of St. John's basketball as a force on the New York scene. If it were handled properly, St. John's could blow up big-time on the metropolitan scene.

But it's turning into a circus now. First, Monasch, through an intermediary, offers Florida's Billy Donovan less than he's already making. Then, he once again pursues Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who apparently is the dream date for Rev. Donald Harrington, the university president, who was turned down by Hewitt the last time St. John's had a coaching vacancy.

That was followed by the Seth Greenberg turndown because he got a better deal to stay put at Virginia Tech. This truly is "The Amateur Hour." If only Ted Mack were alive to emcee.

Next thing we know, Monasch is interviewing Boston College coach Al Skinner. Now, Skinner can coach a little bit, but anyone who knows anything about college basketball will tell you he hates to recruit. What's more, Skinner lost his best staff recruiters to other jobs.

Here's all Monasch needs to know. Go to Google.com. Search "Boston College basketball." Then click on "roster." Scroll down, and you'll find one freshman recruit on this year's BC roster, a point guard named Brady Heslip from Ontario. Uh, by the way, Heslip didn't play one second for a 15-16 Eagles team. Is that the monster recruiter St. John's needs?

For crying out loud, how ignorant can you be?

So, now St. John's is looking to make a splash after striking out with Donovan, Hewitt and Greenberg. Lavin comes with the ESPN imprimatur. Well, glory hallelujah. Lavin did a good job at UCLA in the past. But how does he fit the profile outlined by Monasch at the beginning? You know, a guy with New York recruiting ties.

Siena's Fran McCaffrey should be at the top of any list. He's been successful at a mid-major and has recruited heavily in the New York-Philadelphia corridor. Cornell's Steve Donahue did a great job with this year's team, but he's been in the Ivy League for 20 years. If he had Big East aspirations, he should have left the Ivies long ago.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing St. John's go outside the box -- but for a working coach, not a TV commentator. I've mentioned UNLV coach Lon Kruger, who is aging but still very energetic in his approach. I'm not familiar with Rhode Island's Jim Baron, but people I respect who track this stuff closely are impressed.

The important thing at this point is for Monasch to do his homework and hone in on a coach who can recruit and who has ability on the sidelines. There are a million programs out there. There's no excuse for not having a long list of qualified candidates at this point.

Don't think you have to scramble to make a big splash. Monasch has to have some confidence that St. John's still is an important job in the eyes of enough coaches that he doesn't have to go begging some hairdo from the TV booth to bail him out.

I wonder if he even bothered to call Gonzaga's Mark Few. After the sub-regional in Buffalo, I cornered Few and, presuming that he's married to the Pacific Northwest, at least inquired about his interest in moving to New York.

I'll save Monasch the legwork. Few said he still believes he can reach the Final Four at Gonzaga. He grew up in Washington, has four kids and said that, given his love of the outdoors, "I'd be a fish out of water in New York."

I think he was being truthful, but maybe that's just what he says to reporters. Would it hurt to at least contact the most successful coach of a private Catholic university outside the Big East?

Steve Lavin? Really?

another st john's bash by another blogger.  yawn.

agree who cares

This is one of the most insanely idiotic articles I have ever read.

The reaching out to Billy Donovan went public...whose fault was that?  Don't know but I highly doubt $3 million was all we offered.  I'm sure it was a base package with possible endorsements that would take it higher than he makes now.

Hewitt...seemed like a slam dunk...unfortunately Hewitt got overruled by his family.

Greenberg appeared to be using STJ for a raise...and I'm glad Monasch didn't overpay.

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches I've seen in the last 10 years.  My guess is he is having trouble recruiting to the ACC.  But hates recruiting?  Where do they come up with this stuff.

McCaffrey should be near the top of the list..Donahue shouldn't which makes that about the only part of the article I agree with.

And then he goes onto Mark Few...who has turned down UCLA...and most likely has turned down a fortune from Oregon...but yes he will come all the way across the country for STJ.  This guys is insane.


Jim Baron?  Jim F#*@#*!$ Baron!

 and also a beatwriter for the islanders.....hes just a frustrated guy

and also a beatwriter for the islanders.....hes just a frustrated guy

having anything to do with the islanders makes you a loser.  now i see where he's coming from.

Its almost impossible in NYC to run a coaching search and not have the details get to the media. There are a bunch of people involved on both sides when SJU reaches out to a coach and if one guys wants to make a story out of it then it ends up all over the place. Everyone is now criticizing SJU because its the thing to do right now.

This is one of the most insanely idiotic articles I have ever read.

The reaching out to Billy Donovan went public...whose fault was that?  Don't know but I highly doubt $3 million was all we offered.  I'm sure it was a base package with possible endorsements that would take it higher than he makes now.

Hewitt...seemed like a slam dunk...unfortunately Hewitt got overruled by his family.

Greenberg appeared to be using STJ for a raise...and I'm glad Monasch didn't overpay.

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches I've seen in the last 10 years.  My guess is he is having trouble recruiting to the ACC.  But hates recruiting?  Where do they come up with this stuff.

McCaffrey should be near the top of the list..Donahue shouldn't which makes that about the only part of the article I agree with.

And then he goes onto Mark Few...who has turned down UCLA...and most likely has turned down a fortune from Oregon...but yes he will come all the way across the country for STJ.  This guys is insane.


Jim Baron?  Jim F#*@#*!$ Baron!

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches you've seen in years?  The man has a .500 winning percentage in ACC play.  He hasn't taken the team past the Sweet Sixteen in 13 years.

And this is the kind of journalism Newsday thinks we should be paying for?

Wow this is bad. Poorly researched. He's completely off base on a lot of things.

1. An offer was never made to Billy Donovan. Its not uncommon practice for a booster to contact someone in the interest of a University. You don't hear about it because not every school is located in NY the media capital of the world.

2. Seth Greenberg was never offered. He was contacted via phone.

3. Georgia Tech wants to rid themselves of Hewitt so badly because of the terrible contract they gave him. Hewitt knows his fate there is most likely done but I would take $7 buyout too. He'll get another job soon after and make his pockets even fatter. The choice had nothing to do with St. John's.

4. Maybe this guy should stop using "google" as his main source of information. This is terrible journalism.

All these "writers" are a bunch of jerk offs. How many times has it been said what poor coverage the media gives to St Johns? Now, they all know what is best for a program they rarely cover?

All jerk offs--Roger Rubin, Dick Weiss, Lenn Robbins, Newsday, Vaccaro [which hurts to say because I am a Chaminade alum].

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches I've seen in the last 10 years.  My guess is he is having trouble recruiting to the ACC.  But hates recruiting?  Where do they come up with this stuff.

It's not unusual at all for coaches to hate recruiting. In the case of Skinner, he's a proud man, who was an ex-pro, and has chosen not to kiss ass to the AAU coaches or players with handlers.

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches you've seen in years?  The man has a .500 winning percentage in ACC play.  He hasn't taken the team past the Sweet Sixteen in 13 years.

Maybe I overstated it slightly...but the guy took a not so great BC team to the top of the Big East for several years.  There is now ay he should be written off with the likes of Baron et al.

And the sweet 16 looks pretty good right now.

Who are you endorsing?

Quote from: DoodyNY33 on March 28, 2010, 01:10:57 PM

Al Skinner is one of the best coaches you've seen in years?  The man has a .500 winning percentage in ACC play.  He hasn't taken the team past the Sweet Sixteen in 13 years.

Maybe I overstated it slightly...but the guy took a not so great BC team to the top of the Big East for several years.  There is now ay he should be written off with the likes of Baron et al.

And the sweet 16 looks pretty good right now.

Who are you endorsing?

I'm not endorsing any of the coaches that have come up recently (i.e. Baron, Lavin, and Skinner).  It's not that I don't think they are solid coaches, but we're talking about the Big East.  I doubt any of those three will be able to compete with the top notch coaches in the conference.

Personally, I want the team to expand their parameters and consider coaches outside of the NY area.  It's been mentioned on this board before, but I don't understand why they don't call Brad Stevens at the end of the tournament.  I doubt he would come, but the fact is the man can coach.  You put him in place with a couple of well known assistants and you'd have a dynamite program in place.  I understand Monasch and Harrington want a "NY guy", but the ones out there right now suck.